Whoever thought that studying for an MBA would require you to do anything physical? After all, we are all business people who sit in meetings all day — not warriors who battle it out on the war zone. Before attending classroom in DC, 20 budding MBA’ers from the George Washington University met up in the Homestead preserve in idyllic Hot Springs, VA.

We were attending a class that didn’t require powerpoint or pointers, but still had everything to do with leadership development. Because the truth is, you can’t learn management just from a classroom, as Charles Handy, one of the world’s most influential business thinkers said.

After spending two days with thought-provoking discussion and team building exercises, we were ready to get some fresh air.

We hiked down the Allegheny Mountain gorge trail, through the thick forest, past the lovely cascade falls until we arrived in the middle of a grassy field with a gigantic wall affectionately known as the Tower. At first glance, the 40-foot Tower with a sparse amount of steps seemed daunting and insurmountable.

The Ropes Course is a metaphor for problem solving — it challenges us to face our fears and climb on. The higher you climb, the more you rely on your team for support.

Throughout life we face many obstacles both personal and professional. The key to responding to these obstructions is to face them head on and to rely on the support from others. This is teamwork — being supported and supporting each other. To work as a team, it’s imperative to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, both physically and mentally. The better we know one another, the better we’re able to assist each other.

The first task was to have each person assist their team members in donning their harnesses — the one crucial piece of equipment that would ensure our safety and protection.

Then each three-member team ascended in tandem facing the challenge of not having enough steps for all three to ascend at the same time.

Climbers: “Climb on!”

Meanwhile the team below coached the three climbers on where to place their feet and hands so that they could ascend to the top and descend to the ground together.

Meanwhile the rope handlers kept a close eye on the climbers, coaching them with support and encouragement so that the 3-member team could ascend up to the top together and then work in coordination to bring the crew the back home.

Rope team: “Senodja, place the right hand on the block and your left foot on the step.”

“Amir, move your right foot off the step and place in on the block so that Senodja can place her foot on it.”

As the climbers moved up the wall and then back down, the Belay teams was tasked to remove the slack by paying out or pulling in the excess line. They kept a close eye and a taut line, but they were not allowed to pull the crew up the wall — the climbers had to figure this out on their own.

Climbers: “Slack!” (pay out a little rope.)

Belayers: pays out rope and pause to see if climbers ask again.

Climbers: “Up rope.” (pull in rope slack.)

Belayers: pulls in rope and pause to see if climbers ask again.

The next challenge was the Telephone Pole. Climbing up was the easy part. Once on top, the climber stood on a rotating disc and maintained his/her balance.

“Keep your eyes on the horizon, not the ground. The horizon appears stable. The ground is shaking,” said Amir.

“This event really brought our class together,” said Senodja. “I’m looking forward to the next two years with this amazing group of professionals!”

The last part of the ropes course required two teams to balance a helium stick  on two index fingers and to bring it down to the ground smoothly.

The stick is so light that the up-force from each of the fingers trying to stay in contact is greater than the weight of the stick. Mysteriously, the stick began to rise up despite the force of gravity and a dozen people all coaching and each other on how to bring the stick down collectively.
Not surprisingly, the more the group tried to force it down, the more the stick floated back up — to the facilitators, calm amusement.

The challenge here was to work in unison, be patient and not point fingers at other team members. The Tower, the Telephone Pole and then the Helium Stick — what a fantastic team building activity.

Quantico, FBI Academy, BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL) — here we come — “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”